Stephanie Reveals Funding Snub to prevent violence against women

As reported in the Barnsley News and Sport on 1st March, not a single penny from a Government funding package for tackling violence against women and girls has been allocated to Barnsley or South Yorkshire, Stephanie has revealed.

The Government’s ‘Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund’ was established to provide £17m between 2017 and 2020 towards schemes addressing this issue.

Yet in response to a parliamentary question tabled by the local MP, the Government has admitted that no money from this fund has made its way to Barnsley or the wider South Yorkshire region.

In their response to Stephanie Peacock’s question, the Government stated that decisions on allocation “were taken to ensure a reasonable spread of funding geographically”.

Despite this, no funding has been provided from the service directly to schemes in Barnsley and South Yorkshire.

Other fund allocations include £400,000 awarded to a project in Prime Minister Theresa May’s local Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner in the Thames Valley.

Commenting on the figures she forced the Government to reveal through her parliamentary question, Stephanie said: “It’s greatly disappointing that, despite the Government’s pledge to offer geographically diverse funding to tackle violence against women and girls, not a single penny has been allocated to Barnsley or South Yorkshire.

“In addressing such a pressing issue, money should be no obstacle, yet this Government appears to have focused funding on a select few areas.

“Any intent to tackle violence against women and girls is of course welcome, but on the back of staggering cuts to the local authorities and police forces at the forefront of these efforts, the Government must do much more.”